Filtering Skills
Skillshare provides three filtering layers that control which skills reach which targets. Pick the scenario that matches your goal.
Sync a skill to specific targets only
Add a targets field (or metadata.targets) to the skill's SKILL.md frontmatter.
The skill will only sync to the listed targets.
---
name: my-cursor-only-skill
targets: [cursor]
---
Target aliases are supported — claude matches both claude and claude-code.
📖 SKILL.md targets field · Filtering Reference
Exclude specific skills from one target
Use --add-exclude on the target to block skills matching a glob pattern:
skillshare target cursor --add-exclude "legacy-*"
skillshare sync
📖 Target filter flags · Filtering Reference
Only allow specific skills on one target
Use --add-include to create a whitelist — only matching skills will sync:
skillshare target claude --add-include "team-*"
skillshare sync
📖 Target filter flags · Filtering Reference
Hide skills from all targets
Place a .skillignore file in your source directory. Skills matching these patterns are excluded from all targets at discovery time:
drafts/
experimental-*
📖 .skillignore syntax · Filtering Reference
Exclude skills inside a tracked repo
Place a .skillignore inside the tracked repo directory. It only affects skills within that repo:
internal-only/*
validation-scripts
Local-only overrides
.skillignore.local is appended after .skillignore — last matching rule wins. Use negation patterns to un-ignore skills locally without editing the shared file:
# The repo ignores private-*, but I need mine
!private-mine
Don't commit this file — add it to .gitignore.
Which layer should I use?
How to verify what's being filtered
| Command | What it shows |
|---|---|
skillshare sync | Ignored skill count and names at the bottom |
skillshare status --json | Full .skillignore stats (patterns, ignored skills, active files) |
skillshare doctor | Health check includes .skillignore pattern count and ignored count |
skillshare ui → Sync page | Collapsible "Ignored by .skillignore" card with badge |
See also
- Filtering Reference — full specification of all three layers
- Sync command — filter behavior examples
- Target command — CLI flags for include/exclude